


Days and Nights

by Geneviéve Bartok (BlackRoseHunter)



Category: The Silence Series - D. Nolan Clark
Genre: 21C AU, Battling Cafés AU, Book Spoilers, Books, Centrocor Café, Coffee, Comedy, D. Nolan Clark, David Wellington, F/M, Fanfiction, Forbidden Suns, Forgotten Worlds, Forsaken Skies, Gen, Living!94th Squadron AU, Living!Marines AU, M/M, Mother!Elder McRae, Multi, Named!Bury, Named!Marines, Named!Squadron, New York Base, New York City, Possible Aliens, Pre-Established Relationships, References to Aliens, References to Relationships, Romance, Scarred Coffee Beans, Sexual References, Slice of Life, Spoilers, Tea, The Silence, The Silence Café, The Silence Trilogy, Young!Shulkin AU, coffee shop AU, innuendos
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 15:54:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,504
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11256153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackRoseHunter/pseuds/Genevi%C3%A9ve%20Bartok
Summary: In which the set is changed and time is altered, so are the lives of our favourite characters.Aleister Lanoe now runs the Silence Café. Bettina Zhang still controls most aspects of his non-business life. Tannis Valk is still a giant and still runs most of the machinery at the bar. Auster Maggs and Proserpina Derrow can't keep their hands off of each other. Thom and Roan McRae are now married. Hassan Paniet probably seems to have changed more than he did. Caroline Ehta now runs a branch of trainees, still as unprepared as usual. Tara Holz may or may not be pining after her best friend.The Silence Café will never fail. Ever. Or so Aleister thinks. Varma does, too, that's for sure.





	Days and Nights

**Author's Note:**

> Opening the fandom with a coffee shop AU. How creative can we get here?
> 
> This is my first Work on AO3 and has not gone through a beta just yet, so please excuse any mistakes or errors that have not been fixed.
> 
> This is also the first Work posted under The Silence Series. For a full explanation of what the trilogy is, or if you're interested in it (It's one of the best series I've ever read, which is saying something), you may be able to find it at a bookstore or can order it off of Amazon, along with many other bookstores and such.
> 
> There isn't a lot of pretense necessary to read this, other than character and relationship information that established in the books. It is possible to read this work without reading the books, but I would strongly recommend reading them anyway.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

****

* * *

   Soft snickers filled the robust air of a dimly lit café as if breaking the silence was forbidden but couldn’t be helped. A pen scratched across Tannis Valk’s arm, though it was not he who was drawing on himself. Hassan Paniet - though a full meter shorter (that would be three feet and three inches, for those who don’t use the metric system) - was the owner of that blue pen marked with tiny fingerprints and leaked ink stains. Tiny hearts and intricate stars and detailed lines stroked over his left bicep and past his elbow to reach his wrist. The air was scented with brewing coffee, fresh pastries, and the faintest hints of spiced chicken and sliced turkey being prepared for lunch. While Hassan should have been in the kitchen baking, he had been assigned barista duty for the day, seeing as the hands at Silence Café were short enough as it was, and Tannis often complained about being overrun with people when he worked by himself.

   Two other bodies - those belonging to Thom McRae and Blaze Bury - wandered through the same room, throwing rags at each other and playing some complicated game of dodgeball - dodge rag? - that happened every morning before their boss would come in and chide them for not wiping down tables before the morning rush hour. They never paid much heed to the two baristas, and while everyone knew something happened there, there wasn’t a lot of question as to what. Tannis was one of the only quiet baristas, though the same could not be said for Hassan. That tiny baker had no filter whatsoever, meaning that any question asked would be met with immediate secrecy, and, after a bit of prying, everything he knew. That being said, Thom and Blaze were kind enough to avoid interacting with the two when they were doing, well, whatever they did in the morning.

   Aleister Lanoe always arrived exactly five minutes after Bettina Zhang did. Nobody questioned why. Everyone knew the answer, anyway. The aforementioned boss strode through the door suddenly - exactly five minutes after Bettina entered through the back - and immediately scolded the busboys for throwing things and misbehaving, then made his rounds through the tables and lines of racks waiting to be pushed to the entrance or into the open space afterward. A particularly loud giggle - high pitched, Aleister knew, that annoying squeaky voice - caught his attention, turning his head to peer over at the baristas in all their inky glory as Tannis leaned on the counter while Hassan drew all over his arm. Aleister sighed loudly, though didn’t catch their attention. He coughed. Nothing. With that, he shoved the rack he was wheeling toward the door aside forcefully and stalked over to the counter.

   “Would you two shape up already?” Aleister growled. Tannis, surprised by his superior’s sudden presence, quite literally slipped and tumbled to the floor in shock. Hassan burst out in laughter, slapping a hand over his mouth and scratching blue ink onto his cheek. Tannis quickly struggled to his feet, still chuckling, and glanced nervously at his boss. Said boss rolled his eyes and strolled off toward the kitchen window, where he could see all the busy activity and bustle force its way methodically through the thrum of morning chatter and sleepy eyes.

   Aleister’s face soured for a moment. He had twenty things to do that morning and cleaning up after Auster Maggs was not one of them. In fact, he wondered where the scoundrel was in the first place. He knew that Auster tended to drift more than work, though he figured the man would at least stay visible to his own boss.

   “Where’s Auster?” Aleister shoved through the swinging door and swept a look through the busy kitchen. All he was returned with was a few shrugs and a strange “huh”-like noise he figured had come from Caroline Ehta. He rolled his eyes and continued on through the kitchen until he reached the steel door of the pantry. He didn’t have to press an ear against it to know what was happening in there.

   “Auster!” The door flew open unexpectedly, catching Auster and his lovely fiancée in the middle of practically stripping. The poor coffee beans… “Get out of the pantry!”

   God, that moustache. Aleister growled audibly as Auster offered him a signature sneer and took Proserpina Derrow’s hand to lead her out after him.

   “Has anyone else got any plans to scar the coffee beans today? Because if you do, you better change your mind quickly, or you’ll be leaving with your six torn off.”

   Nobody looked up from their work. Angry Aleister was scary Aleister, and nobody likes scary Aleister.

   “That’s what I thought.”

   The door swung open, right into the faces of Thom and Blaze, as Aleister slammed through. He had a business to run, and morning duties were not to be shirked at a time like this.

   “We’re opening in twenty!” he shouted, practically in Tannis and Hassan’s faces to get through to the kitchen. Hassan visibly flinched, though he said nothing. The blue streak had been removed from his face. Aleister didn’t care how that had been done, as long as it had been ridden of thoroughly before he unlocked the doors. He had no hope for Tannis today.

   Returning to his work of moving racks, Aleister zoned into watching the flow of traffic and pedestrians outside as he did so. A soft call shook him from his thoughts, and he almost whirled around and punched the speaker square in the jaw.

   “Aleister?”

   “I do not have time-” he whirled around and eyed Bettina. “Oh. Hey. Yeah?”

   “You do know what day it is, right?”

   “Now’s not the time for innuendos.”

   “Varma’s coming in today, remember?” Bettina peered down at the clipboard in her hands. Aleister took it from her and studied it angrily. She was right. Management was coming in today and he couldn’t afford to look sloppy now.

   “Yeah, yeah. Go tell everyone to be on their game, yadda yadda, whatever.”

   “Yes, sir.”

   “Lunch break?”

   Bettina shot him a look and swayed her hips as she left. Aleister hid a smirk, then finished up with the racks to move on to checking the tables. By the time he had worked his way over to the counter, Hassan was already drawing on Tannis again.

   “Would you two…” Aleister glared Hassan down, though the tiny baker only chortled in response.

   “Problem, love?”

   “Yes, __‘love’__ ,” Aleister mocked, “quit drawing on Tannis and be ready for the doors to open. We’re up in… seven.”

   Hassan’s lips twitched uncharacteristically as if peeved that his boss would mock him. His head dipped onto Tannis’ hunched shoulder. Tannis wrapped an arm protectively around him.

   “I’ve been ready for an hour now, dear.” He yawned pointedly, just as Caroline burst through the kitchen door.

   “What do you mean Varma’s coming in today?!” She shouted in Aleister’s face. He flicked away a bit of spittle from his cheek. “My people aren’t ready, they haven’t been for-”

   “Caroline.”

   “I can’t just let some manager come and-”

   “Caroline.”

   “If I get caught off my game I’ll get kicked to-”

   “Ehta!”

   That stopped the raving woman in her tracks. Her cropped hair was falling in her eyes, already unkempt even at the hour it was.

   “You’ll be fine. Tell the trainees that somebody important is coming in and have them on their best behaviour. Act like you’re doing something super important today, even if you’re just reminding them on how to use the grinder or something. Act like a big shot and you’ll be fine. Just whip them into shape.”

   Caroline mouthed words that Aleister couldn’t read. She pursed her lips and nodded, then shoved back into the kitchen, already shouting orders. Aleister pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He frowned when he heard more snickering.

   “You two better be on your game, too,” he scolded. Hassan’s eyes went wide, wider possibly than they already were. He looked like a kicked puppy, well, that of one who could smile devilishly. Tannis actually rolled his eyes at Hassan this time. Aleister agreed. He stalked out of the room and into the kitchen, going off to do God-knows-what.

   Tannis grinned down at Hassan and patted his back. He stood up from his slouch, all the way up to the eight-foot height he possessed, and popped the vertebrae in his spine soundly.

   “Thirty seconds!” Bettina reminded from the back. Tannis sighed and flipped a switch on a machine.

   “Here we go again.”

   “I drew a spaceship on your arm.”

   “You-” Tannis fumbled as he studied his arm. “You-”

   “Hush, love. The doors are opening.”

   “I hate you so much.”

   “You look like an easel.”

   “You’re going to get it later.”

   “I already planned on it.”

   “Perv.”

   “Giant.”

   “Shorty.”

   Hassan exhaled and smiled up at the first customer in line. Tannis listened intently to begin the order. A large sign buzzed on above their heads.

   “Welcome to the Silence Café!”

**Author's Note:**

> Credit goes to Ami at https://www.quotev.com/AmiWasHere or https://www.quotev.com/groups/242818/topic/4183206?page=1for the beautiful art!


End file.
